diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
index 9d18524834..429381349b 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
@@ -916,6 +916,8 @@ pgbench <optional> <replaceable>options</replaceable> </optional> <replaceable>d
    value can be inserted into a SQL command by writing
    <literal>:</literal><replaceable>variablename</replaceable>.  When running more than
    one client session, each session has its own set of variables.
+   <application>pgbench</application> supports up to 256 variables in one
+   statement.
   </para>
 
    <table id="pgbench-automatic-variables">
diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
index 19532cfb54..af72ce4a18 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ typedef struct
  */
 #define SQL_COMMAND		1
 #define META_COMMAND	2
-#define MAX_ARGS		10
+#define MAX_ARGS		256
 
 typedef enum MetaCommand
 {
@@ -4137,7 +4137,7 @@ parseQuery(Command *cmd)
 		if (cmd->argc >= MAX_ARGS)
 		{
 			fprintf(stderr, "statement has too many arguments (maximum is %d): %s\n",
-					MAX_ARGS - 1, cmd->lines.data);
+					MAX_ARGS, cmd->lines.data);
 			pg_free(name);
 			return false;
 		}
diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl b/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
index ad15ba66ea..2e4957c09a 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
@@ -587,10 +587,19 @@ my @errors = (
 }
 	],
 	[
-		'sql too many args', 1, [qr{statement has too many arguments.*\b9\b}],
-		q{-- MAX_ARGS=10 for prepared
+		'sql too many args', 1, [qr{statement has too many arguments.*\b256\b}],
+		q{-- MAX_ARGS=256 for prepared
 \set i 0
-SELECT LEAST(:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i);
+SELECT LEAST(
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i, :i,
+:i);
 }
 	],